Walker, Fremont Break Away for Sweep
November 6, 2020
Second Half reports
BROOKLYN — It was a dream that formulated in the mind of a young runner before he ever put on a Fremont High School cross country singlet.
“It’s something I’ve been working for the last five, six years probably,” senior Nathan Walker said after winning the MHSAA Division 2 championship Friday at Michigan International Speedway.
“It’s a dream come true. I’ve come to state meets since when I was in middle school. I was like, ‘That would be pretty cool to do.’”
Even cooler — and of more importance to Walker — was winning a second straight team championship with longtime teammates. Fremont scored 61 points to outdistance runner-up St. Johns, which had 126.
Fremont has won four Division 2 championships and finished second five times over the last 20 years.
“Fremont pulled the back-to-back,” Walker said. “I put that above the individual title for me.”
Walker led the way, cruising to an emphatic individual victory with a time of 15 minutes, 19.39 seconds on a windy afternoon with temperatures in the low 70s.
He covered the 3.1-mile MIS course alone, leading by eight seconds after a 4:51.4 opening mile and 27 seconds after reaching the two-mile mark in 9:49.0.
“I was just trying to get out there in the first mile, get comfortable, get into a rhythm,” Walker said. “In the middle part of the race, stay smooth and relaxed, try to crank it in the last mile. That didn’t go completely to play. It is what it is.”
Pinckney junior Caleb Jarema was second in 15:42.97, establishing himself as the favorite for next year.
Walker was a four-time all-stater, placing 28th as a freshman, fifth as a sophomore and fourth as a junior.
“Honestly, I did not feel the greatest,” Walker said. “It heated up. The wind kind of ate me up a little bit. I was sticking tough in the second half of the race, but it probably wasn’t my greatest showing. It’s done now. I’m happy with the placing.”
Fremont’s top five runners all made all-state by placing among the top 30. Conor Somers was fifth in 16:02.55, Ben Paige was 18th in 16:31.55, Joshua Zerfas was 26th in 16:37.39 and Adam Ward was 27th in 16:38.57 to complete Fremont’s scoring.
“It’s been an honor racing with those guys, some of them the last six, seven years,” Walker said. “It’s definitely helpful to have that culture, along with the coaches that we have.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Fremont’s Nathan Walker approaches the finish line well ahead of the Division 2 field Friday at MIS. (Middle) Fremont’s Conor Summers and St. Johns’ Ryan Brown close in on top-10 finishes. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)
Marquette, Jeffers Repeat While Stephenson Earns 1st Title Since 2012
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
October 22, 2022
FLAT ROCK — It seemed very little, if anything was going to separate the Marquette boys from their fourth straight Upper Peninsula Division 1 cross country title here Saturday.
Despite missing a couple of its top runners, Marquette placed five among the top nine and scored 29 points. They were followed by Sault Ste. Marie with 83 and Houghton at 97.
“The guys push one another and Brady Ketzenberger had a great race,” said Marquette coach Derek Marr. “This envisions the concept of being a team. It’s awesome to see how both teams support each other.”
Sault Ste. Marie freshman Gabe Litzner recorded the day’s fastest time, covering the 3.1-mile course in 16 minutes, 41.55 seconds on a sunny and mild day on the Richer farm property, home of the Farmhouse cross country course, near Gladstone. He was followed by Gladstone senior Drew Hughes (16:48.83) and Ketzenberger (16:58.61), also a senior.
“I tried to lay back for two miles, then I tried to reel people after that,” said Litzner, who made his move approximately 400 meters after the two-mile mark. “At that point I felt real good and thought to myself, ‘I have a chance to win this.’ I ran a 16:30 at Rudyard (on Oct. 15) which gave me a lot of confidence. Our team also did real well. I think this will motivate us.”
This marked the first time Hughes broke 17 minutes in a U.P. Final.
“I’m happy with the way everything went,” he said. “I’m glad I got into the 16s. It has been fun running with everybody. I’m happy with how my four years of high school cross country have gone. I set a lot of goals and achieved nearly all of them.”
Freshman Peter Argeropoulous was fourth for Marquette, with sophomore Chase Thomsen sixth, senior Colin VanderSchaaf seventh and junior Cullen Papin ninth.
Division 2
Painesdale Jeffers grabbed the top three places and retained its Division 2 title with 27 points, followed by Ishpeming with 70 and Ironwood with 78.
“We came in with a real solid game plan and were as ready as we could be,” said Jeffers coach Sam Kilpela. “We really worked on pace in practice and came through exactly where we should be.
“Going 1-2-3 was unexpected. Brit (Heinonen) had a real bad cramp halfway through the race, but still ran a solid race. This was just a rewarding day. The guys are talented. They work together.”
Senior Tavin Larson was crowned champion for the first time in 17:43.83. He was followed by freshmen Landon Larson (17:44.4) and Cameron Anderson (17:53.34).
“This was my best race of the year,” said Tavin. “Once I got into first place (after the first mile), I tried to hold off my brother. Our top four runners always run as a pack, and we’re always within 30 seconds of each other. Our top runner from last year missed this season with a broken leg, but we have two freshmen who are fast. We have a lot of good middle school runners coming up. The future looks bright.”
Ironwood coach Ben Schmandt said he was pleased with his team’s effort.
“We kind of finished where we expected,” he added. “The guys left it all on the course. They worked hard all year long and had a nice finish. We’ll keep working at it. We’ll miss our seniors. Hopefully, we’ll keep working hard and stay in competitive mode.
Division 3
Stephenson captured the Division 3 crown with its first Finals title since finishing a streak of three straight in Division 2 in 2012. The Eagles were Division 3 runners-up last season.
The Eagles scored 77 points and Engadine edged Republic-Michigamme 86-89 for its first runner-up trophy.
“We ran a lot of races with Munising, and they really pushed our boys,” said Eagles coach Kate Kuntze. “I’m really proud of our boys. They performed on a day we really needed them to. In D-3 there’s so many schools without full teams. We couldn’t settle for passing just one runner. The weather was perfect and the boys came in with a good mindset.”
Dollar Bay senior Amos Norland was the top individual finisher in a school-record 16:44.18, followed by Pickford’s Hayden Hagen (18:00.14) and Munising sophomore Trevor Nolan (18:04.1).
“Getting a lot of sleep and eating healthy were keys in the last two days,” said Norland. “I did 1-K repeats in practice and tried to keep a steady pace today. I got the school record by 21 seconds, which was unexpected for sure. I knew I had a chance, but I thought I’d get it by just a couple seconds.”
Seniors Griffin Brown in fourth and Jacob Ross in ninth set the pace for Stephenson.
PHOTOS (Top) Gladstone's Drew Hughes (27), Marquette's Carson VanderSchaaf (78), Gladstone's Aaron Hughes (26), Sault Ste. Marie's Gabe Litzner (117) and Cody Aldridge (112), and Negaunee's Judge Anderson (98) lead the start of Saturday’s Upper Peninsula Division 1 Final. (2) Litzner crosses the finish line first in the D1 race. (3) Painesdale Jeffers’ Tavin Larson (186) wins Division 2 with freshman brother Landon Larson (185) a close second. (4) Stephenson's Griffin Brown races to a fourth-place finish in Division 3. (Photos by Cara Kamps.)